The Most Alive
by Lucidshard
Summary: Gene/Alex - A brutal and senseless crime leaves DCI Hunt & team searching for a psychotic killer. Drake struggles to come to terms with basic truths about her past and present. Whilst Gene Hunt is left wondering for his DI's sanity; and his own.
1. Chapter 1

**The Most Alive**

"Jesus - sodding - Christ, it smells like a tarts parlour in here!" DCI Hunt marched into the room wrinkling his nose and announcing his displeasure at the scent which was invading his nostrils.

"Fake perfume knock offs, sir. Just cataloguing the evidence," volunteered Shaz, who was smiling slightly.

"That's all very well and good but do you have to play with it, surely it's not necessary to catalogue the stench?" Hunt snapped and waved his news paper in front of his face.

"It stinks so much 'cos Butterfingers 'ere dropped a box of the stuff, Sir," DS Carling said thumbing over his shoulder, roughly in the direction of DC Skelton, who looked slightly apologetic.

"Well for the love of God, someone open the windows, it feels like me nose holes are being buggered by Give-an-shee."

"Givenchy, it's pronounced Givenchy," Drake added as she entered the room with a handful of files. Clad as usual in her leather jacket and obscenely tight jeans.

"Well, trust a silver spoon sucker like you to know _that,"_ added Hunt.

"Its basic French, its not hard," she smiled and added, "even for you."

"Well, I don't given-a-shit," Hunt turned half-sneering, walked into his office and promptly sat behind his desk with that morning's paper and a bacon sandwich.

Drake shrugged, put her leather jacket on her chair and manoeuvred to sit behind her desk. The perfume really did reek and Drake saw that Shaz had already started to open some windows. As Alex scanned the room she saw Carling leaning back on his chair, feet on his desk, and Chris watching Shaz move across the room.

"Is there anything new, apart from the faux perfume?" Alex directed the question to Chris, who dragged his eyes off Shaz and looked at Drake.

"No, nothing, and we've pretty much finished this lot. Just got to take it down to the evidence room," Chris said with a quick glance at the boxes of perfume.

"Well, I'd get them out of here sharpish, if I were you." Her eyes flicked towards the DCI's office giving Chris a hint.

"Will do. Sha…er, WPC Granger, give us a hand would you?" Chris asked.

"Sure, DC Skelton," Granger said with a smirk and a hint of something baser in her eyes. They picked up the boxes that Chris could have surely taken alone, and left. Drake knew they'd be a least fifteen minutes to do a five minute job and while they had nothing on it didn't matter how long they were.

"BREW!" Shouted Hunt from his office, behind the paper which was protecting him from the sight from the rest of the office.

Carling looked at Drake expectantly, as if he thought she was going to get up and make the tea herself. Drake smirked and tapped the 'DI' part of the 'DI Alex Drake' name plaque on her desk. When Ray looked aghast, Alex moved her mug to the front of her desk.

"Two sugars please, Detective Sergeant," Drake said deliberately loud and failed to keep the smirk off her face. Keeping her head down she heard the scraping of the chair across the room, and then the removal of the mug from her desk with a resentful snatch. Five minutes later the cup returned with a thump and a slosh. "Thank you."

Alex sipped the milky tea and thumbed through some current cases. Distantly she heard a phone ring, but her mind was drifting and she was thinking of Molly. Alex felt immediately guilty for smiling, always the pang when she thought of Molly. Nothing was more important to her than getting home, nothing. And yet she made the best of things like she knew she was supposed to. There was a thud somewhere "Drake!" Hunt was at her desk looking down at her impatiently.

"Yes?" She said, shaking herself mentally out of her reverie.

"Now I have your esteemed attention, move that cushion you call an arse and let's go," Hunt leaned over the desk as he shouted at her.

"Where are we going?" Alex saw Hunt roll his eyes at her question and she added, "My cushion of an arse would like to know."

"Had a report of a disturbance in the posh end of town, familiar territory for you, Bolly," Hunt rapped the desk twice, "Chop chop, we haven't got all day."

* * *

The Audi screamed through the street unnecessarily, Alex thought Gene seemed to revel and enjoy in burning rubber, and if he terrified a pedestrian on the way, all the better. Alex clung to the door and hoped they got there in one piece.

"Is driving like we are being attacked absolutely bloody necessary?" Alex snapped after bodily melding with the window for the third time.

Hunt's eyes glittered with the excitement of driving his car, "If you have to ask, Bolly, then I wouldn't expect a posh tart like yourself to understand. "

Hunt veered around a reversing car and did a handbrake turn at the next right. A child ran out into the road ahead and Hunt slammed on the breaks hard. Alex slid forward on her seat and braced herself on the dashboard.

"For God's sake, Gene!!" Drake yelled as the child stood staring for a moment unharmed and then stuck his middle finger up nastily before scampering away.

"Cheeky little shite! I should have hit the accelerator," Hunt half shouted out of the window at the small retreating figure. He gripped the steering wheel tighter and put his foot down once more, the close call did not seem to rattle him and he carried on driving just as he had before. Gene heard Drake tut loudly and took a glance at her. "It's only when you are closest to death, Bolly, that you feel the most alive."

Drake looked at him open mouthed trying to comprehend the all the ramifications of what Hunt had said.

"Cat got your tongue?" Hunt had stolen another quick glance at Drake and seen her gob smacked look.

Recovering Drake said, "That's your excuse for driving like a maniac, is it? That's just the sort of pseudo-profound bullshit I'd expect from a subconscious construct such as you." She heard mild exclamations of surprise from Ray and Chris in the back of the car. She thought she heard Ray say something about hormones and she turned sharply to look in their direction, both immediately looked out of the window, not meeting her glance.

The Quattro squealed round the last corner and sharply broke to a bone crunching stop. Alex gave Hunt a filthy look as she got out of the car but the look on his face quickly forced her to turn and look at the scene in front on them.

A young PC by the name of Goddard was leaning over the next door's fence, puking. Alex felt the cold pit of fear in her stomach turn over and take a trip up her spine. She shuddered and looked to Gene, who face had become set in that grim way of his, like stone, nothing let in and nothing let out, a brave face. "Great, this is going to be just _peachy_," Hunt growled.

Hunt walked up to PC Goddard and waited for him to finish retching. "You'll be alright lad," Hunt said giving him a couple of well placed manly pats to his back. The PC turned to face Hunt, he looked humiliated and scared but in front of the Guv he seemed to gather strength.

"Sir," Goddard said weakly and seemed hear the weakness and repeated himself a little stronger, "Sir."

"What am I going to find PC Goddard?" Hunts tone was firm and the use of Goddard's title seems to remind the young PC he had a job to do.

"I got a call, Sir, to attend this address, a domestic – somebody phoned in and reported that they heard shouting and screaming. When I got here the door was open and I knocked and got no answer, so I went in, Sir, I went in… and…" Goddard's voice broke and Hunt placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Steady lad."

"There's blood everywhere, I've never seen so much," Goddard fought with what he was seeing in his minds eye, to what they were yet to find.

Hunt seemed to think this was enough and gave one more pat before saying, "Go get a cuppa."

Hunt turned and started to walk to the front door of the house, not turning to look at her, he said, "Drake, stay here."

"Bollocks will I stay here," Alex shouted back, and whether Hunt heard her or never really expected her to stay wasn't clear, as he carried on towards the house.

As Hunt walked through the front door of the house the first thing he noticed was the metallic smell, and for the second time that day he felt like his nose was being rogered. The back of his hand automatically went to his nose as if to somehow ward the offending smell off. He walked through into the kitchen and stopped. There really was blood everywhere.

They walked through in silence and met back at the foot of the stairs.

"There aren't any bodies," Chris wondered aloud what they all had been thinking.

Drake put a foot on the stairs and felt a hand press down on her arm, she looked up into Hunt's grim set face, and she knew what he was going to say.

"I'm going up there alone, Drake, and this time you will wait here," his voice gave an order and as Ray and Chris shifted to follow Hunt he looked at them and said, "You two stay here as well."

"Guv!" Carling started to object.

"Stay here." Firm, hard cold words, Ray didn't dare say anything else.

Hunt climbed the stairs careful not to touch the banister, and with each step his legs felt heavier, the dread weighing down on him like lead. On the landing he paused, he saw blood trailing along and he followed where it led.

A bedroom, double bed, one person in it, the other on the floor beside it. The sheets were saturated and the red of the blood was stark against the white cotton. He went to check for a pulse but withdrew his hand, pointless.

The bathroom was surprisingly clear of blood, so he moved on to the room he had left till last. Teddy bear motif on the door was smiling, welcoming him in. His gut churned, cold fear swam in his chest, and he pushed the door open. Two small beds, one red, one untouched. He walked around the red one and a small body came into view. The bile rose in his throat. He looked around the next bed, nothing.

Two beds, only one kid - where's the other kid? He looked under the beds, nothing. He went to the wall robe and opened it, almost expecting a body to be there, but again there was nothing. Frowning Hunt started looking in the other rooms upstairs. He walked down the stairs and saw Drake looking at some of the photos on the walls.

"How many kids?" Hunt snapped.

"What?" Drake responded, concentration broke.

"How many kids were there _here_ in this house?" Hunt retorted impatiently.

"Two, I think, judging from the photos, a boy and a girl, the girls the older one."

"The parents and the boy are upstairs, dead." Hunt stated the fact and didn't meet any ones eyes; he instead started to open cupboards, searching. "The girl is missing."

* * *

After two hours of searching and no luck finding the girl, especially now forensics and others had arrived, too many people buzzing around the honey pot.

Drake and Hunt stood in the back garden of the house. Hunt lit a cigarette and dragged on it deeply. Drake knew he wanted a glass in his other hand, and right on cue he pulled a hip flask from out of his pocket and swigged on it heavily. Right now, Alex could not blame him. He proffered the flask in her direction and she shook her head. He waggled it again, seeming not to have accepted her rejection of his scotch. Their eyes met over the flask and she understood, took the flask and swigged; a communion for the dead. She handed it back.

Hunt glanced around at the garden and then started, his eyes rested upon a patch of blood on the grass. He moved quickly to it and saw another and another. Pocketing the flask, Hunt moved and followed the trail to a bush at the end of the garden.

The bush moved.

"Shit!"

"Gene, what is it?" Drake had only just noticed he'd moved. "Gene? Guv?"

A small set of blue eyes stared out of the green, and into Hunts. He felt her absolute terror. "Hello…" He leaned forward and the girl shuffled back. "I'm not going to hurt you, I am a policeman."

"That's what he said," Hunt heard her whisper and he went cold.

"I am real one, look…" he took out his warrant card and badge, he rested on a branch and moved back so the girl could take it and look. Hunt heard Drake moving up behind him, she'd be better suited to handling this. The bush rustled and the girl took the card. He saw the hand was heavily stained with blood.

"Is it safe?"

"Yes, darling, it's safe," Drake added from beside Hunt.

The girl crawled out; she was in a blood-soaked nightie, cold and shivering. She hugged Hunt and he looked surprised but put his arms round her and picked her up.

* * *

Back at the station, the mood was sombre and grim, no-one voice what they all were thinking; why? It was a senseless crime, no apparent motive as yet and the lack of anything that could point them in the right direction was almost frightening.

Drake looked up from the files she had been reading. The DCI's door was shut and the blinds closed, no one dared disturb him. He had been in a foul mood since finding that girl, but more worryingly he had been very quiet. Alex stood; she needed a break from looking through the photos of the crime scene. She walked over and knocked on the door to the sanctuary.

"What!"

Drake opened the door slowly and a veil of smoke flooded out. It was worse on the inside, and for a brief moment Alex worried for her lungs. She shut the door behind her.

"Gene?"

"Present. What do you have for me?" His speech was the slightest bit slurred, not much, but Drake could hear it.

"There are no leads yet. No-one saw anyone entering or leaving the house. They were well liked in the community, no hint of any potential enemies."

"So we could be looking at some psychotic wanker just deciding that today's the day he's going to butcher a family." Hunt swirled the golden liquid in his glass and then downed it.

"The girl is the only lead we have to catch the bastard that did this."

"Right then, we go to the hospital."

"We can't, Gene, they have sedated her, we'll have to wait till the morning."

Hunt stood and picked up his coat.

"Where are you going?" Drake asked bemused at the abrupt ending to the conversation.

"I am going to get fucking pissed."


	2. Chapter 2

**Two**

The mood in Luigi's hung over the patrons, like the veil of smoke that DCI Hunt was creating from the corner of the restaurant. It didn't seem to affect all the customers of course, just the ones sitting near Hunt. He glowered out from behind the cigarette haze, his glance mostly directed at the bar, which was currently empty. Chris and Ray had made their excuses and left not too long ago, leaving the Manc Lion to drink his wine alone. He looked at the empty bar again, looked back into his wine and pursed his lips.

"Mr Hunt?" Luigi had appeared in front of Hunts table.

"Yes, Luigi?" Hunt looked slightly impatient.

"Will you be wanting anything to eat?"

"No thanks, Luigi, no appetite tonight," Hunt said into his wine glass.

"That's because you dine alone," Luigi said knowingly, as Hunt noticed Alex walking in and sitting down at the bar.

"I'll have another of your house rubbish and a glass," Hunt said changing his mind with no explanation, "and one of those Margeeta pizza's."

"Margarita, Mr Hunt," Luigi corrected.

"I'm sure she's lovely, mate, but I'm still waiting for me drink," he glanced round Luigi as he spoke, getting a glimpse of the bar. Luigi frowned and looked behind him and saw what 'Mr Hunt' was looking at. He smiled knowingly and Hunt retorted, "Yes, good, very clever! I'm dying of thirst here, Luigi, drier than Ghandi's flip flop."

Luigi smiled, saying nothing.

Hunt waited till Luigi returned with the house red and an empty glass, before he allowed himself a proper look at the bar. Drake turned and looked at him. He pointed to the empty glass and she came over and sat in the seat opposite. Hunt said nothing while he poured her a drink; he merely put the jug down and pushed the nearly full glass in her direction. She said nothing and sipped.

Alex looked up into his stoic face, sometimes she saw different fluctuating emotions there, but he was a hard one to read. Today she had been initially surprised that Hunt had stopped her going to the upstairs of the house, and even more shocked that he stopped Ray and Chris, but on reflection she thought she knew why; he couldn't predict how he was going to react. Drake suspected that he was deeply effected by what he had seen and wanted the chance to cope, alone. He was the Guv; he could do that if he wanted. But as she looked at him now there was nothing seeping through the indifferent mask.

"You know, here on earth, we prefer to communicate by talking, or have you upper class gits mastered the force and are holding out on us lower beings?" Hunt sat back smirking, but didn't take his eyes away from hers.

"Sorry, can't get my mind off today," Alex said and played with the rim of her glass. "It's so unreal I just feel numb and scared it will all catch up with me."

Hunt still looking at her and said, "Does it disturb you, Bolly?"

Alex, confused said, "Yes."

"Good."

"Why is that good?" She leaned in further, intrigued.

"Makes you want to catch the bastard that did it," he sat forward and rested his elbows on the table.

"Are you disturbed, Gene?"

"No," Hunt's eyes flicked down and for the first time broke eye contact.

"I don't believe you, how can you not be effected by that's macho bullshit!" Alex threw an angry scowl in Hunt's direction, annoyed at him for quite clearly lying to her face, "You don't really believe that?"

One word answers weren't Hunt's style, a tirade of sarcastic and snide comments were. Alex peered at him more closely, "Gene?"

"I'm beyond disturbed, Bolly," Hunt looked up again. "I'm furious, I'm livid, I'm… there must be a better, longer and posher word for it?"

"Apoplectic?" Drake suggested.

"Yeah, I'm that," Hunt seemed to shake himself and he was more himself again. But Alex saw the hesitation, as brief as it was, and she wondered why Hunt felt he had to barricade the world out.

"Your Pizza, Mr Hunt," Luigi placed the pizza in the centre of the table. "Signorina, would you like anything to eat?"

Drake smiled mischievously and picked up a piece of Hunt's pizza, "I'm good thanks, Luigi."

Hunt looked scandalised, "Is nothing sacred? You'll be after my dessert next and no-one but no-one steals my Artic Roll."

Hunt ate his food and Alex giggled when she nicked more of his dinner, but he didn't stop her taking it. She noticed he did not bring up that days work again, and she did not either. Alex was sure the full horror of the situation would be realised tomorrow when they spoke to the girl. She was a little younger than Molly and Drake knew she would be tested emotionally tomorrow, she just hoped that the girl could shed some light on the situation, they needed to find who did this; she needed to find who did this. Gene left soon after leaving Alex to get to bed; he had refused dessert saying he didn't fancy sodding fighting for it, which was fine as she had already filled up on pizza.

Alex's sleep was restless; she became a child again, running and running from an unseen force trying to get her. What she saw was a mix of her own surfacing memories and visions of the house she had visited today. Still being chased, she tripped and fell into cool water and woke up drenched in sweat. Sleep had never been that restful here in this constructed plane of her subconscious.

* * *

They went to the hospital first thing, it was a bright, cool morning and DCI Hunt wore his sunglasses to stop the glare blinding him. His driving was somewhat hampered by the early morning traffic, but that did not stop him from revving loudly behind slow drivers or shouting out the window.

"Green means go, you colour-blind twat!"

Alex winced, it was too early for this, "Do you think we could just get there in one piece and do without the Manchurian alpha male dominance this morning." She winced as she spoke, she needed to sleep more, and it was far, far too bright out there.

"What's up with you, Bolls, your eyes look like piss holes in the snow," Hunt glanced over while revving viciously at a mini in front of them.

"I'm just tired; I'd rather get to the hospital with my hearing intact and not in the back of the traditional, but significantly more painful, ambulance, if that's all right with you DCI Hunt," Alex rubbed one of her temples as she spoke and shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight.

"Come on, where's your sense of adventure, even posh birds like to go fast every now and then," he grinned and revved harder.

"My sense of adventure is back in my pretend bed, warm and snuggled up with my warped sense of reality," she half smiled, knowing he'd have no idea what she was talking about.

Hunt blinked, he had no clue what she was trapping on about, "Bollocks to this shit, the Gene Genie waits for no man, especially one in a brown effing Mini," he reached down and pulled out his police light and popped it onto the roof of the car and started the sirens. The Mini driver started swearing but moved out of the way, and as they passed him by Hunt gave him the wanker sign.

Not surprisingly it didn't take them too much longer to get to the hospital. Once inside however, the mood between them changed and they became subdued. They reached the nurses station, announced themselves and were taken straight through to where the little girl had slept. There was one uniformed officer waiting outside then room, he looked tired but he was drinking a coffee. He nodded towards Hunt, "Guv."

"She awake?" He tilted his head in the direction of the door.

"Yes, Guv, she been asking for you."

Hunt looked surprised, "Asking for me?"

"Yes, Sir, DCI Hunt she said."

"Right, good… well, let's go talk to her," Hunt went to enter the room but Drake stopped him.

"Easy does it, Gene, don't terrify her," her look was concerned even though she knew how gentle he could be.

"Always, Bolls, always," Hunt opened the door and entered the room, he did not see the dubious look Drake gave him as he did so.

The first thing Hunt noticed about the girl was that she smiled as soon as she saw him, a bright beaming smile that simultaneously warmed and chilled. She was pale and there was still blood in her hair, though the rest of her had been washed. There was a bag of saline hanging down with a steady drip drip and a bandage on one arm.

"You all right, sweetheart," Hunts voice was quiet and the tone soft; almost vulnerable. "Hope these Doctors and Nurses have been looking after you properly."

"Yes, they have. I was waiting for you to come." The girl's eyes sparkled with her smile, not the sort of thing Gene associated with a witness to a triple homicide. Hunt glanced uneasily at Drake and saw his own unsettled feelings mirrored towards the girl.

Drake came forward and opened her note pad, "Catherine, we need to ask you some questions about yesterday." Alex saw the flicker, like a lightening flash across Catherine's face, pure fear.

"He called me Catherine, but nobody calls me that it's always Cathy." The word 'he' dripped with significance and disgust, and the mingled expression on her face was not pretty to see on a child.

Alex nodded and jotted down what Cathy had said, "Yesterday afternoon, can you tell us what happened?"

"Night, it was night. I was asleep when I heard a noise like choking… it was Peter; I thought he couldn't breathe, he was bleeding… blood from is neck… he couldn't breathe," The girl spoke calmly at first but with each word the memory became more real and tears started to tumble from her eyes. Hunt reached into his pocket and gave her a clean handkerchief.

When the girl didn't continue Drake prompted, "What happened next Cathy?"

"I wanted my Mum and Dad, but the man had already hurt them. I heard them screaming and Daddy saw me… he told me to run… so I did," she paused, looked at Hunt and took his hand in hers. "I should have helped them."

"Don't think that for a second, you couldn't have done anything. You did the right thing by running and your doing the right thing now by telling us what happened," Drake looked firmly into Cathy's eyes. "Is there anything you can tell us about the man, was there anything strange about him?"

"He wore black, his face was covered but…" the girl looked deep in thought, "He had black round his eyes too."

Alex noted that down, "That's very good, is there anything else you can remember like that?"

The girl looked at Hunt, "There is but it's weird… I… I might have dreamt it maybe."

"Tell us and we'll find out 'cos that what us policemen do, " Hunt replied with his soft tone again.

"I heard him say something about a cold dinner; I think that's what he said."

Alex wrote it down, "Do you remember any arguments or your Mum and Dad being upset with anyone at all?"

"No," Cathy said quietly. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Hunt reached into his pocket and took out his issued police notebook; it had never been used, the pencil was still sharp. He placed it in the girl's hand. "If you remember anything just write it down." The girl gripped the note book but did not smile.

"They are dead aren't they, my family."

"Yes, Cathy."

Cathy's face darkened, "I'm alone now." And tears fell as her face dropped, and with it Hunt's heart. He looked up at Drake and saw her tears threatening to fall. He felt his own well up and he pushed them down with a fierceness that burned. He allowed the feelings of sorrow for this girl develop into the furnace of fury that had been building since he first saw the blood trodden carpet.

His eyes ablaze with emotion he struggled to contain, Hunt leaned forward holding Cathy's hand and said, "I promise you, I will get the bastard scumbag that did this to your family."

* * *

Alex's head swam with all sorts of feelings; she knew how this girl felt on every level. Her twisted psyche was playing with her again, tormenting her with things that she had been pushing away. Again she saw Hunt in that different light, the protector, and even now as she stared at him whilst he screeched round the corners in the Quattro; she could help see him as more than he appeared to be.

"If you keep bogging at me like that, Bolly, you're going to give me the horn, and then I'll be able to steer the Quattro with no hands."

* * *

**AN** – Thanks to everyone who reviewed – Yes it's a continuing story, not sure how many chapters yet but enjoying writing it.


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